[comp.sys.mac.programmer] How many files can be put in a folder?

yahnke@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Ross Yahnke, MACC) (02/01/90)

I've run into an appalling problem which makes me think I should've
just stuck with my Timex Sinclair...

I got a 800K HFS diskette that has a folder that has 356 files in
it. The files are small, most are less than 1K, some are a little
larger. When I pop this diskette into a Mac Plus and double-click
on the folder, it takes a little while but the folder eventually
opens and you can see all the files.

However do this on a Mac IIcx and ONLY 145 ARE TO BE FOUND!!! When
you "View by Name" it seems that the files highest in the sorting
order just aren't there.

"It's just the machine", you say? "NO!" I say! I've tried this
on various macs and here's the breakdown:

Machine
Plus        1mb        6.0.3       356
SE          1mb        6.0.2       356
SE/30       4mb        6.0.4       356
II          4mb        6.0.3       145
IIx         5mb        6.0.4       145
portable    2mb?       6.0.4       145
IIcx        4mb        6.0.3       145

I'm pretty sure none of these macs had any virii. MultiFinder was not
held constant, (could that be the problem? tho if MF runs out of mem
it'll put up a dialog)

Question:
  What's going on? What's the cure - other than to not have so many
files in a folder?

  Is there a maximum number of files that can be put in a folder?

(Why do I need som many files in the folder? It makes accessing the
data in them from a program I'm writing much easier.)

  As a side issue I've noticed that folders with a lot of files
in them sometimes have a hard time being copied from one disk to
another; it's as if the disk gets stuck on a certain file and you
can almost hear the drive thrashing from one spot to another.
Any ideas?

Thanks, -Ross
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